Proud | But I Smile Anyway...

The Reception and Other News!

16 May 2016 56 Comments

by Ritu in Children, Family, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Family, Football, Proud, Wedding

It was the final part of the wedding yesterday. A reception in a beautiful Manor House Venue in Hampshire. We got there, almost, before the Sat Nav decided we had arrived, yet we were in the middle of a construction site!

A few moments of panic, then we found it, tucked away!

We were lucky, it a glorious day!

Being as it was a fusion wedding, Indian to English, the entertainment was mixed and there was this great moving band serenading groups of people as they mingled, and nibbled on canapes! That’s the Bride’s Sister In Law, having a boogie!

The happy couple. Don’t they look gorgeous!

Lil Princess loved it, running around the manicured lawns, then posing for photos! Oh, then the spinning round on the dancefloor until you got dizzy bit! And there was a liquid nitrogen ice cream stall, where you could order your ice cream and it was made and frozen in front of you! Cool!!!!

There were also the obligatory peacocks roaming around the stately home grounds, and we happened upon this albino peacock!

2016-05-15-23.03.08.jpg.jpeg

And here is me, in my blue garb, ready for the party!

Oh and in other news, A very proud mummy here!

Hubby Dearest and Lil Man didn’t go as it was the football season’s last match and the end of season team presentation.

Well, what a way to finish it! He scored a goal, and came home with 2 trophies! The one that all players get for completing, and a special one for commitment to the team!

We were late coming home, so once I had scraped Lil Princess off her car seat, changed her and got her to bed, he was fast asleep. I’m off to hug and congratulate him now!

Have a wonderful Monday Peeps!

He Did It!

06 Sep 2015 43 Comments

by Ritu in Children Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, First Match, Football, Lil Man, Proud, Soccer Mom, Winners, Winning

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that my son, Lil Man, has been in training with a football (Soccer, for my American Peeps!) team here, and this season, he has been selected for the actual squad! He is officially in the Under 11’s team!

Well, aside from a few friendlies that they played over the summer holiday, he hasn’t played a match, and unfortunately they have pretty much lost most of them.

But today was his team’s first official match, and they were playing a charity shield match, raising funds for Cancer Research.

They were hyped, it was a big un, as they got to leave with an actual trophy (or shield) today, and a medal each!

And you know me, I am NOT Soccer Mom! I do NOT do sport of any kind, aside from having to drop him off to training, but, I do try to be a good mum, and I promised, that come hell or high water, we would all be there watching him.

And so there we were, watching this 30 minutes each way game, 18 pairs of little legs running back and forth on a pitch much larger than what they were used to! My mum instincts were fighting to come out, I wanted to stop the match, go give them all rests, pick kids up as they fell and rolled around (yes the footy dramatics start at an early age!), but no, I was good. I reined myself in, and stood at the side line, not really knowing what to be shouting or what to say. At least I knew which side they were meant to be shooting at!

Offside rule? Nope, no clue! Yet these little ones are supposed to understand that already, their first match where it actually counts too!

He wasn’t on initially but 15 minutes into the first half, he was brought on, and played well.. I think he was Midfield… Excuse me, I haven’t a clue! They were even 2 – 0 up at this stage!

My Lil Super Player!

The half time whistle was blown, and everyone was buzzing! Yes, I admit, even I was kinda hyper… my son’s team was winning!

Lil Princess was there too, and missed the first half, as she was far too busy playing with a pair of Daschund puppies that were there with their owner!

By this time Granddad had come to fill his cheerleading squad, and Hubby’s brother and wife, so we had a nice little team of supporters, alongside all the other parents!

Second half, and he wasn’t playing to start with but was, again, swapped on 15 minutes in, and guess what… they actually WON the match! 5 – 0!!! A prouder bunch of Under 11’s (and parents) I haven’t seen!

An overjoyed bunch!

I’ll admit, it was more thrilling than I thought.. I may go and watch a few more… and hopefully the first match, the first win, is a sign of what is to come this season.

Here he is, medal proudly displayed (behind the shield!), and holding the special Shield!

Proud Lil Man!

Yoga Papa

10 Feb 2015 2 Comments

by Ritu in Family Tags: Baba Ramdev, Blog, Blog Post, Blogging, children, Grandchildren, Health, Heart Attack, Proud, Teacher, Yoga

Yoga Baba with his little disciples

I mentioned before that my Pops is a yoga teacher.
He had a heart attack a few years back, despite being an extremely healthy person. Family history they said, it was always going to happen. We were lucky, he was lucky, it was a relatively minor one and after angioplasty he felt reborn! (Hence he says “I’m not nearly 70, it’s my [nth] birthday, corellating with the year of his surgery!)
After this all happened, he discovered a Swami, Baba Ramdev. This guy taught yoga, healing yoga or yog, to the masses and by following his own regime, he was able to recover from childhood polio. He claims to have helps so many people and so Pops decided to give it a go.
And you know, it worked. Pops’s general health improved, a shoulder and neck problem got better, allergies lessened, the GP was amazed at his cholesterol levels. He could not stop singing the praises of this Swamiji and his yoga.
So much so that once he officially retired, he took the course and over the year, travelled to India, and attended various seminars to become a yoga teacher.
This yoga isn’t like what the Western world like to think of as yoga. What you do are the aasans, stretches, which are the physical exercises. This uses those, but the key element is the pranayams, breathing in different ways, to benefit the body.
He started teaching lessons and over the last few years, has helped so many people, and created quite a reputation for himself too!
So much so, that he now fronts a show on a UK Sikh TV channel!
Praanyog – this was the advert filmed!
It comes on daily in the morning, and he hosts a live talk show every 2 weeks too!
He’s learned Reiki too, and Pressure Point Therapy… Quite the alternative healer nowadays!
I’m so proud of my Pops, and his grandchildren love to practice with him!